The fund is partially designed to support projects willing to look beyond traditional distribution models, and is open to applications from other sectors such as healthcare and government services.

Funding will come in the shape of interest free loans of between £50,000 to £100,000, which will be matched 50/50 by the fund. The company will share the development costs.

The screen agency has issued a call for registrations of interest fom interested applicants. Priority is to be given to firms based in the North, West Midlands and South West to support areas overly dependent on public sector employment.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the economy, and we want to encourage more people to discover their entrepreneurial spirit and exploit new opportunities,” said Enterprise minister Mark Prisk.

“This scheme, which has benefitted from the Regional Growth Fund is the right kind of support to help creative and digital businesses get off the ground and develop new and exciting content.

“Whether it’s creating jobs or boosting manufacturing capability, the regional growth fund shows the difference that Government and the private sector can make when working together. It is real projects like these which will unlock private sector investment to boost local economic growth and rebalance the economy.”

Creative England’s director of business development Jim Farmery said: “By launching this programme I hope we can stimulate the development of some really interesting content and applications and support projects that otherwise would have struggled to get off the ground”.